Part 35

Dr. Henry has also met with the present bird in the vicinity of Fort Webster, New Mexico. He represents it, however, as of exceedingly rare occurrence, so far as he has observed, and fully confirms the statements given above, respecting its partiality for the neighborhood of water. His first specimen, a male in full plumage, was obtained on the Rio Miembres, near Fort Webster, in the month of March, 1853.

DESCRIPTION AND TECHNICAL OBSERVATIONS.

Genus Pyrocephalus. Gould, Zool. Voy. Beagle, Birds, p. 44. (1841.)

General form compact and rather heavy; bill depressed, wide at base, rather long, acute, with an indentation near the tip of the upper mandible, and with several pairs of bristles at its base; wing long, the second and third quills longest, and nearly equal; tail ample, wide; tarsi rather long, slender; toes moderate or short. The species generally have the feathers of the head above lengthened and crest-like, and with other parts of the plumage of a fine scarlet color. An American genus of Flycatchers inhabiting the southern portion of the northern and nearly the whole of the southern division of this continent.

Pyrocephalus rubineus. (Boddaert.) Muscicapa rubineus. Bodd., Tab. dez Pl. Enl. Buff., p. 42. (1783.) Muscicapa coronata. Gm., Syst. Nat., II. p. 932. (1788.)

Form. Head above, from the base of the bill to the occiput, with long crest-like feathers. General form rather broad and robust; wings and tail long; legs slender.

Dimensions. Male. Total length (of skin), about 5½ inches; wing, 3¼; tail, 2½ inches.

Colors. Adult Male. Long feathers of the head above, and entire under parts, fine scarlet; brightest on the top of the head, palest on the under tail-coverts. Upper parts of the body, line from behind the eye, wings and tail, sepia brown; bill and feet dark. Under wing-coverts frequently edged and tipped with pale red.

Female. Entire upper parts plain sepia brown; under parts yellowish-white, with a few longitudinal lines of brown.

Young Male. Similar to the female, but with the flanks tinged with pale red.

Hab. Texas and New Mexico. Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philada.

Obs. On comparison of our specimens from Texas with others from various parts of South America, we cannot at present find differences sufficient to induce us to regard them in any other light than as one species. The present is the first bird of its genus which has been observed within the limits of the United States.

The sexes of this species are quite unlike each other, the female having none of the brilliant color of her companion.

The figures in our plate represent the adult and young males about two-thirds of the natural size.

CALLIPEPLA SQUAMATA.—(Vigors.) The Blue Partridge. The Scaly Partridge. PLATE XIX.—Male and Female.

This is another of the fine game birds that inhabit the countries on the southwestern frontier of the United States, and the adjoining regions of Mexico. Though not presenting such gay colors in its plumage as the two other Partridges which we have previously figured in the present work, it is by no means destitute of claim to respect in personal appearance, and in gracefulness and delicacy of form is not at all their inferior. We have always particularly admired its ample and curious crest, which is possessed by both male and female, and, though admitting of being flattened so as to lie close on the head, is usually to be seen erect, and gives it an air unusually spirited and striking. It is remarkable for great swiftness in running, and is more of an insect-eater than is usual in this family of birds. It is abundant in Texas and New Mexico.

Specimens of this bird had reached Europe as early as 1830, in which year it was first brought to the notice of naturalists by Mr. Vigors, one of the founders of the Zoological Society of London, and one of the most profound naturalists of the only school of systematic Zoology, the Circularian and Quinarian, which Anglo-Saxon mind has yet produced, a consideration one would think not slightly to be regarded. His description is in the Zoological Journal, V. p. 275. It has, however, always, until within a few years, been of great rarity in collections, and nothing was known of its history or habits until the publication of the valuable contributions to Natural History which have been made by officers of the Army of the United States.

The Blue Partridge was first noticed within the territory of the United States, by Lieut. J. W. Abert, a son of the distinguished officer who presides over the Topographical Department of the Army. In Lieut. Abert’s very able and valuable “Report of an examination of New Mexico in the years 1846-7,” made as an officer of Topographical Engineers, and which, besides its great military and geographical usefulness, contains much information relating to the natural history of that country, we find several notices of this bird, one of which, occurring under date of twelfth of November, 1846 (p. 497), we take the liberty of transferring to our pages:—

“After passing through the little town of Las Canas, we encountered another hill of sand, very difficult of ascent, and after we reached the top, we commenced the descent through a crooked ravine that was strewed with fragments of rocks. On the way, we saw several flocks of crested quails, which were running along with great rapidity among the clumps of the Kreosote plant (Larrea mexicana). We procured one of them; at the report of the gun, only three or four rose up; they seemed to depend more on their fleetness of foot than swiftness of wing. This bird proved to be the Ortyx squamata. The size, contour, and general character, greatly resemble the common quail (O. virginiana); the plumage is of soft, silvery gray, the iris hazel, and the crest fringed with white. On opening the stomach, I found it filled with grass seeds and insects of the order Hemiptera.” This is the earliest record of this bird having been observed within the limits of the United States; subsequently, it has been noticed by others.

Capt. S. G. French, of the United States Army, to whom we are indebted for fine specimens of this and other birds of Western America, has also favored us with the following note:—

“It was in 1846 that I first met with this bird near Camargo, on the Rio Grande. At Monterey, none were to be found; but on the plains at Agua Nueva, a few miles south of Saltillo, I observed them in considerable numbers.

“Since then, I have met with them occasionally on the Upper Rio Grande, in the vicinity of El Paso, and some seventy miles down the river from that place. They inhabit the same section of country with Gambel’s Partridge, though I have never seen them associated together in the same covey. Their favorite resorts are the sandy chaparral and mesquite bushes, through which they run with great swiftness, resorting to the wing only when suddenly alarmed by finding themselves too nearly approached.

“They appear to be very shy, and but seldom are found near habitations, though I once saw a large covey run through my camp in the suburbs of El Paso.

“The bird that I sent you was killed on the Rio Grande, below El Paso, in July last (1852).”

Col. McCall, in his “Remarks on the habits, &c., of birds met with in Western Texas,” in Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy, V. p. 222, thus alludes to the Blue Partridge:—

“This species I have met with, at different times, throughout a more extended region than either of the former (the Massena Partridge and Gambel’s Partridge), viz.: from Camargo on the lower Rio Grande, to Santa Fé. On the present occasion, they were more numerous between the latter point and Don Ana than elsewhere. They seem to prefer the vicinity of the greater water-courses to interior tracts. They are much more wild than either of the preceding, and being extremely watchful and swift of foot, they elude pursuit with surprising skill, scarcely resorting to flight even in comparatively open, sandy ground. They do not approach the settlements as much as the last.

“For the table, all these species, however, possess in a high degree the requisites of plump muscle and delicate flavour. Massena is, perhaps, the best.”

The following more extended and beautiful sketch, referring to this Partridge, has been very kindly furnished by the same gentleman (Col. McCall), for our present article:—